ACC National Reports 2021-2023

2021 - 2023

NATIONAL REPORTS

ACC23 NATIONAL CONFERENCE

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Committed to the Great Commission

I write this immensely grateful for God’s faithfulness. In every season, He remains faithful. As we look across the two-year conference period, we have emerged from the disruption of the pandemic in 2021, to a sense of renewal and refreshing across our churches. It is exciting to see the sparks of revival igniting all across the land. In light of this, the theme of ‘Outpouring’ is timely for our 2023 National Conference.

ACC Family

I’ve always viewed our Movement as a family. The ACC Family consists of more than 3,300 credentialed pastors, their families and incredible ministry teams, who give of themselves daily to share the love of Jesus across their communities. We all found ourselves out of our comfort zone during the pandemic restrictions; yet how wonderful to hear stories of how pastors and churches came alongside to support and cheer each other on. We rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep.

Loving others

It was a similar story during the floods that devastated many parts of Australia in 2022 – local churches and chaplains reached out to help those who lost their homes and their livelihood in the raging floodwaters.

This is the body of Christ at its finest. The ministry that happens day in and day out in local communities –praying for the sick, visiting the prisons, feeding the hungry, providing shelter for the destitute. There may have been some dark days in the two-year conference period, but this is truly when the Church has shone the brightest.

Add to this the generous response to our ACCI appeals for aid across the globe. Funds have been received from across our nation for the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan (2021), the tsunami that hit Tonga (January 2022), for the refugees of war-torn Ukraine (March 2022), and more recently, the survivors of the earthquake in Turkiye and Syria (February 2023).

Local church life

There is no doubt that the pandemic affected church life during restrictions. Online services provided a new pathway for connecting with people, but as church services in buildings retumed in 2022, the desire for face-to-face gatherings ‘in the room’ resumed. We have learned to embrace a ‘new normal’ in church life. By the start of 2023, reports from across our States reveal strong church attendance and health across the spectrum of church life.

How incredible that during these past two turbulent

years, we added 71 ACC church locations. Church Planting continues to be a key focus of our Movement, and there is great momentum in this space as we believe for 500 churches to be planted in the next ten years. Just as exciting are the reports that many churches have gained brand new facilities in this time. Church buildings send a strong message to our communities that we are here to stay for the long haul.

Good reports

We are thankful to God for the fruitfulness of our extended ministries in the past two years. There have been some great highlights and milestones worth celebrating in this season.

We rejoiced at the news in February 2022 that Alphacrucis received registration as a University College. This makes Alphacrucis the first Pentecostal higher education institution of this level in Australia’s history. This year, our national college celebrates 75 years of training and equipping people for the work of the ministry, and we look forward to a new generation of leaders emerging from this excellent tertiary education facility.

Youth Alive is celebrating four decades of ministry to teenagers across our nation. Over these 40 years, records reveal that we have seen some 320,000 young

people respond to the Gospel! Youth Alive continues to serve the next generation, reaching young people, raising up leaders and resourcing local churches. Chaplaincy Australia remains at the coal face of helping people and communities in the midst of crisis and trauma. The launch of the dedicated hotline 1800chaplain in November 2021, manned by trained chaplains, provides a safe and confidential place for people to receive comfort, support and, where needed, referral to other services.

You can read many more great testimonies in the following reports by our State and National leaders.

National gatherings

In 2021, many conferences and events moved to online platforms – including a virtual PanAsia Missions conference, Indigenous Zoom event and online Community Engagement Summit.

We can only marvel at the window that enabled us to hold our 2021 National Conference in person on the Gold Coast, before Covid restrictions were reintroduced and borders were shut again.

By 2022, there was great rejoicing when every State Conference was able to meet in person; the PanAsia conference was held in Thailand; and dynamic Youth >

Hungry hearts. Hope Centre youth

Alive rallies gathered hundreds of teenagers in every state.

We have continued to use online platforms for shorter national gatherings – such as one hour Mentoring Seminars and National Prayer meetings. These enable us to gather across the nation and beyond in unity.

Prayer

Our commitment to prayer has become stronger than ever. All ACC churches are encouraged to launch every new year with a prayer strategy that involves a dedicated period of time of prayer and fasting. In 2023, we introduced a live Nationwide Prayer on Zoom, with hundreds joining in the time of fervent prayer led by our National Executive and State Presidents.

I'd like to take the opportunity to thank Pastor David O'Keefe for heading up our ACC Prayer Network over the past decade. He has co-ordinated a team of faithful intercessors who have continually covered our pastors and their families in prayer.

National Matters

In recent years, we have seen many attempts to pass legislation at State and Federal level that has potential to limit the freedom of religion in our nation. This has required ongoing engagement behind the scenes, with numerous submissions, prepared and led by Pastor Mark Edwards on behalf of our movement. I’d like to express our great appreciation and thanks for all he has given to engage in this challenging space. There is still much work to do and we need everyone to lean in and support these important efforts to secure religious freedom for future generations.

Leadership

Our Movement is blessed with incredible men and women who step up to lead at various levels across our regions, states and nationally. We are incredibly grateful for every one who serves as a leader, be it on State Executive teams, boards or leading national departments.

2021-2023 National Executive: Mark Varughese, Sean Stanton, Corey Turner, Ally Cawthorn, Wayne Alcorn, Joel Chelliah, Matt

I myself have been so grateful to be supported by such a wonderful National Executive team in the past two years. Each one has brought something unique to the table and made a strong contribution to our Movement through their designated offices and portfolios. Our new Vice President, John Hunt, stepped into this role at the 2021 Conference, and he also carries the responsibility of Director of ACCI. John has done an outstanding job! Likewise, Sean Stanton, our National Secretary, is a great gift to us all, ensuring we are in standing with best practice and good governance across the board.

My deepest appreciation goes to Brad Bonhomme, Joel Chelliah, Matt Heins, Ally Cawthorn, Corey Turner and Mark Varughese – they have helped steer our Movement with wisdom, grace and strength. I’d like to take the opportunity thank each of them, and their families and churches for releasing them, for their faithful commitment to serve in this two year conference period.

I’d particularly like to honour and thank Brad & Alison Bonhomme and Corey & Simone Turner, who have

prayerfully decided not to stand for the next term. We will be publicly acknowledging their service at Conference for their unwavering commitment and service nationally.

Winning souls and making disciples

No matter what circumstances we find ourselves in, our call to preach the Gospel is still the heart of all we do –to tell people the good news about the incredible love of God for a lost and dying world.

My prayer for the future is that there is a burning passion all across our Movement, to continue to see lost souls won for Jesus, disciples made with strong foundations in the Word, families strengthened and the next generation raised up.

All across our Movement, may we remain committed to fulfill the Great Commission – to make Jesus known across our nation and the nations of the earth. He is the answer and hope for humanity.

Wayne Alcorn ACC National President

Matt Heins, Brad Bonhomme, John Hunt

Serving our Movement

Serving our Movement in the past conference period has been a privilege. We certainly live in interesting times, and I’ve come to appreciate how incredibly resilient the Church is. I’m so grateful for the hardworking men and women in ministry across our nation and beyond who put the Kingdom first in their lives.

The team from the National Office considers it a privilege to serve the pastors and churches of our Movement. We currently have over the 3,300 pastors on our database, who hold various credentials - SMC, PMC, OMC and others with Associated Overseas Ministry Certificates or Emeritus Status. Every credential is significant and represents a life dedicated to serving the Lord.

Church planting continues to be one of our key focuses. During this past conference period, we have added 71 church locations. By the end of 2022, we had 1,100 churches, which presents a healthy picture emerging from the pandemic.

Resourcing churches and pastors

One of the main commitments of the ACC National and State offices is to ensure that our churches and pastors receive excellent assistance and resources when it comes to management and governance.

There is an ongoing expectation that churches and Christian leaders uphold sound governance principles. We remain committed to our Safer Churches program by constantly updating information and providing training to ensure that our churches are safe places for every individual, child and adult alike.

We constantly review our policies and procedures to ensure pastors and churches receive up-todate information to assist them with their roles. We continue to develop position papers to assist pastors in responding on a solid theological basis to current social issues.

2021 Conference Business

Due to the extraordinary circumstances and practical challenges of holding a National Conference during the COVID-19 pandemic, voting at the 2021 National Conference was made available with an online registration for all persons holding an OMC and who had no National or State dues outstanding as at the commencement of the National Conference.

The 2021 Conference passed the following remits: Amendments to the Child Protection Policy, Ministerial Code of Conduct, the Doctrinal Basis Amendment to the United Constitution and the Theological Supplement to the Doctrinal Statement.

Health & Wellbeing

The National Executive’s emphasis on the health and well-being of pastors and ministry staff continued in 2021 and 2022 with online mentoring seminars for pastors. These focused on mentoring, supervision and counselling for leaders on the frontline.

Our States continued this focus of investing into the health and well-being of pastors with seminars and activities related to wellbeing. This included a pastor’s hotline established in New South Wales, and Chaplaincy Australia launched their 1800chaplain hotline in November 2021.

ACC Census

Due to the pandemic, the National Executive postponed the annual ACC Census during 2020 and 2021. Instead, it was decided to conduct a short survey in November 2022 to identify the strength of our churches emerging from the pandemic. We believe it was important that we be able to measure and compare the differences between pre-and postpandemic church life. The data of this survey will be made available at the 2023 National Conference.

The results of the Australian Government Census in 2021 revealed a decline in Christianity over five years from responses to the optional question of Religion. In 2022, Brad Bonhomme made a submission to the ABS Census regarding the 2026 Australian Census for a box entitled ‘Pentecostal’ under the question of Religion. This was declined as they concluded that not enough had written ‘Pentecostal’ in the 2021 Census to warrant this.

I want to commend Ally Cawthorn, who has significantly contributed to developing and clarifying pathways for women in leadership in our Movement. Seeing more women stepping into leadership roles across our State Executive and ministry boards is exciting. More than on third of our credentialed pastors in the ACC are female, which continues to increase.

National Redress and Insurance

I want to acknowledge my appreciation for Jon Holloway and the ACSF team, who provide an excellent suite of products that understand circumstances unique to our churches. ACSF clients include the majority of our churches, who can count on expert advice to help their church when unforeseen situations arise. This includes dealing with the realities of national disasters, such as the floods in 2022, including advice about risk management; and why being part of the National Redress Scheme is necessary for every church today.

Pentecostal Fellowship

The ACC remains connected with other Pentecostal fellowships in Australia and globally. This includes participation with the APMF nationally and with the international fellowships of the Assemblies of God in the Asia Pacific and World Pentecostal Fellowship. Meetings have been attended by Wayne Alcorn, John Hunt, and myself. At the end of 2022, John Hunt, Brad Bonhomme and I met with the AOG leadership in Papua New Guinea to discuss their vision and strategy and how we can assist them.

National Leadership

The National Executive these past two years has been an excellent team serving our Movement through their leadership and portfolio roles. I want to thank Pastor Wayne Alcorn for his incredible leadership, supported by John Hunt as Vice President and the team of Brad Bonhomme, Ally Cawthorn, Joel Chelliah, Matt Heins, Corey Turner and Mark Varughese.

The National Executive has continued to meet with the State Presidents twice a year at our Executive meetings. This has built stronger relationships between the States and National, serving our pastors and churches well.

In 2022, we combined the annual AGM with a leadership summit in Melbourne that included all National and State Executives and the National leaders of ministry departments.

I want to express my gratitude to the members of the ACC Review Group, under the chair of Ian Maynard, who provide external support and advice to the National Executive every quarter. Thank you to Ian and the team of Carl Wood, Graham Corney; Matthew Zschech; Michael Kilham, Stacey Bonney and Stephen Crouch for their professional expertise and insights that serve our Movement.

National Office

Our National Office team is a close-knit team serving and supporting our pastors and churches under the leadership of our ACC General Manager, Jeffrey Bartlett. I’d like to commend Jeffrey for his spirit of excellence in all he does for our Movement and all he carries behind the scenes. He is a gift to us all.

May I express my great appreciation to the National Office team of Ann Byron, Armando Tocci, Sharon Hamman, Daryl-Anne Le Roux, Chris Smith and Vanessa Charles for their diligence and faithfulness; this includes Robyn Douglass, who retired at the end of 2022.

Having been 12 years in the role of National Secretary, I’d like to thank my wife Lynda and my church in Canberra for releasing me to serve our Movement at this time.

Sean Stanton, ACC National Secretary

Celebrating new credential holders (Qld/NT 2022)

ACC FINANCIAL STATEMENTS

National Operations

I am pleased to present the financial statements for Australian Christian Churches (ABN: 58 123 514 361).

The financial comparison periods presented are:

1 January 2021 to 31 December 2021, & 1 January 2022 to 31 December 2022.

Both reporting periods achieved a net surplus. As experienced by most, we are feeling the effect of inflationary pressures across many expense lines, and continue to make operational adjustments to limit the impact of this.

If you would like to view the full audit reports for 2021 and 2022, or have any other queries on the financials, please write to me at general.manager@acc.org.au

Highlights

Member Services System

It has been exciting to implement a new Member Services System (Database) and replacement Pastor’s Login. Though not without its teething problems, we are already seeing the benefits of increased automation, flexibility and security. We will continue to enhance the technology to better serve you, our members.

ACC Review Group

The ACC Review Group (ACCRG) continued to function throughout 2021 and 2022. As a subcommittee of the National Executive, the ACCRG is essentially an Audit and Risk Committee charged with supporting the National Executive in its duty to govern and control entities (companies, incorporated associations, and unincorporated associations - over 40 in total) within the Movement. The ACCRG is a skills-based subcommittee comprised of business professionals from churches within our Movement. I am very appreciative of the wise contributions the ACCRG members have made, and the additional layer of governance oversight provided by them.

In closing, let me say how much I value the ongoing hard work of our National Office team in all seasons, but particularly in the lead up to National Conference.  I would also like to acknowledge the incredible volunteer contributions from various ACC churches in preparing for National Conference.

On behalf of the ACC National Office, it is an honour to continue to serve this great Movement of ours.

Jeffrey Bartlett General Manager

ACC MINISTRY DEPARTMENTS

Impacting Nations

It is my great joy to submit, to the conference, my first report as the director of ACCI. Over the past two years, we have seen great acceleration in the number of ACC people responding to God’s call for the nations. Since Covid, a record number of enquiries have been made and many people have commenced onboarding as ACCI field workers.

Innovations we’ve made over the past two years

Following Covid, we recognised we no longer required a physical location for our office. We have since decentralised the office and we now meet in a virtual space. This also means we are no longer restricted to hiring people who live locally and our team now covers four states.

Last year, Chad Irons, who has been with us for 12 years, felt the call to go back to the field. He has now transitioned from General Manager to being a field worker in Cambodia, along with his wife Corrie. Chad is also on our Board, as a field worker representative, and continues to add his experience and wisdom to the direction of our organisation.

In other news, we have just launched our new website. It contains information about our people and our projects, enabling individuals and churches to partner with work that is in keeping with their passion and vision. It also clearly articulates who we are, why we’re here and what we believe God has in store for the nations.

We are currently transitioning our overseas ACCI conference to a biennial event. In the off year, we are encouraging as many missionaries and partners as possible to gather with us at National Conference. During the years we’re not meeting in person, we’re also providing the opportunity for everyone to

come together at a virtual conference in August. I’d encourage everyone in our movement to plan to come along to that virtual gathering this year.

Please also take the time to engage with our team at National Conference, both through our Missions stream on the 18th April and at our Expo stand. We look forward to catching up with you and answering any questions you might have.

Support for Appeals and Pojects

We are grateful for the incredible generosity and support for the ACCI Appeals and Projects in the twoyear conference period. These include: Flood Appeal ($292.3K); Afghanistan Appeal ($378.3K), Tonga Appeal ($87.9K), Ukraine Appeal ($290.9K) Ukraine Appeal: $290.9K) and Earthquake Appeal ($180.3K). Projects include: 1DAY Non-Tax Deductible (NTD): $93,449); PROJECT22/23 NTD: ($90,909.38)1DAY Tax Deductible (T; D) ($176,544.62); and PROJECT22/23 TD: ($93,995.36).

Launching at Conference

This year at National Conference, we are also pleased to launch our internship program. This is primarily focused on young people in their 20s – offering them a six-month cross cultural ministry experience, coupled with a 40-hour online training course. We believe this could transform the lives of many young people from our movement, returning them to their local churches with a vision and passion to serve God for the rest of their days!

Finally, I wish to thank all our staff, missionaries and partners for their incredible hard work and support as I have found my rhythm in this new role. We look forward to a fruitful new season together.

John Hunt  Director: ACCI

Professional Services

We are your trusted leaders in insurance, lending, investment and risk management for churches and schools. We are pleased to provide our report for the conference period (2021 - 2023).

Insurance

With unprecedented floods and storms occurring across our nation over the past few years, and record claims paid across the insurance industry and within ACS Mutual, this has placed the insurance industry under extreme pressure with significant premium increases and paring back, or even removal of cover, particularly for flooding. During this period, ACS has provided proactive service to our clients, even before floods arrived in simply checking in on clients and preparation advice, where this has not been the case across the insurance industry generally. Our global reach in negotiating our reinsurance arrangements for ACS Mutual means we are assured that we secure the very best cover and pricing for our clients on a global scale.

ACS have also secured longer term sexual abuse cover for our clients when most of the insurance industry globally have excluded this cover due to the high profile of events and risks historically in this space. Our proactive risk management advice to our clients and how this has been implemented within our churches and schools was critical in order to secure this cover going forward. Our own innovative insurance offering for the National Redress Scheme has enabled most of our clients to participate in this scheme with minimal cost, ensuring that genuine survivors of sexual abuse receive proper closure and compensation without needing to go through the adversarial and costly processes for redress in the legal system. This has also enhanced our reputation with the Federal Government and community generally as a Movement.

Whilst most ACC churches are our clients, we continue to reach a great number of churches and schools who are not ACC and continue grow across the independent church and school space.

Insurance highlights include:

• Grown our assets insured by 11% ($4.5 billion to $5 billion)

• Relaunched a new website and continued to update our interactive online portal containing much risk management content and advice for our clients.

• Our innovative online Insurance Declaration portal is now saving you time with renewals and removing cumbersome paperwork. This has now also provided us with an extensive online database and reporting which greatly assists in our presentations and negotiations with our global reinsurers in Australia, London and Singapore.

• The team works tirelessly to assess, advise on and pay claims made, and to reduce downtime as much as possible. Our strong alignment to our churches, Christian schools and ministries enables us to understand their needs.

Investment Management & Commercial Lending

• Maintained Accumulator at $32 million to 31 December 2022 during a challenging covid economic period and financial strain on our churches

We continue to work hard on continuing to develop our largest leap forward in Church and Commercial Lending, in securing a partnership for a $100m+ lending warehouse fund. This continues to be a long and challenging process with the post covid economic climate and tightening of the credit markets generally. Once established this has the potential to grow significantly over coming years to position us to compete with the major banks and dominate the lending market in our space with competitive, aligned and tailored lending with our specialised skills and experience and knowledge of church. This will leverage our existing expertise with much greater levels of our own funds to lend directly, and greatly improve access to funding for our clients and the ACC Movement and increase ACSF’s profitability over coming years to grow two substantial business revenue streams in Insurance and Lending.

We continue to look for other opportunities to grow and strengthen our business and financial performance to continually increase our significant annual and consistent financial support of our Movement.

Leadership

The ambition of the ACS Financial team is to serve with professionalism and dedication. I believe the team deeply understand the business, our clients and the market in which we operate.

Jon Holloway, our Chief Executive Officer, has led the team with strength and grace, especially through the Covid-19 season.

• Most of the fund has fixed interest deposits, for higher earning returns

Goals and Vision

At the start of this decade, our team is more focused than ever at continuously improving products and services to provide to you, our clients.

The National Executive met in our new office last year, Ps Wayne Alcorn officially dedicating and declaring it opening for our staff. It was time a great time of reflection and thankfulness for all that God has done in our business over the past decade. We remain grateful to God, the ACC Movement, our clients and staff for making this possible

It is an exciting time for ACS Financial, having finalised all legacy loans at the end of 2020. We are now looking forward to and planning for a hope laden decade ahead. Our new 3 year plan to 2025 will have us completely debt free from our legacy non property secured business loans.

As a board, we continue to be committed to building the value of the ACS Financial business. I am grateful for the care they take and diligence they give when exercising their duties. Our desire is to see the team and the business flourish.

We are grateful for your continued support of ACS Financial.

Dr Stephen Crouch Chair of Board: ACS Financial Group, including ACS Mutual

Higher Education

Alphacrucis University College (AC) celebrated its 75th Anniversary on 14th February 2023. We are the oldest and largest Pentecostal college in Australia, and we have had a long and fruitful relationship with Australian Christian Churches (ACC). AC alumni have provided significant leadership and ministry to the Pentecostal church in Australia and around the world.

The most significant milestone to celebrate in 20212022 is that AC is now a University College. The government regulator, TEQSA, confirmed its decision to register AC in the University College category on 25th January 2022. In announcing its decision, TEQSA noted that this category was “granted only to institutions that deliver superior quality higher education”. We should all be rightly proud of this achievement – both AC and ACC.

We have been on a sustained growth trajectory for the past 25 years and maintaining this trajectory remains a strategic priority. The global pandemic impacted the higher education sector in 2021 and 2022, however AC was able to maintain enrolment levels during a period of decline in many public universities and other providers. For this we’re very grateful, especially for the support of ACC during this disruption.

The latest national student experience survey reaffirms that our students really enjoy studying at AC and value their educational experience. Student satisfaction with the ‘Quality of Entire Educational Experience’ was at 87.4% (up from 83.7%), satisfaction with ‘Teaching Quality’ was at 90.4%, satisfaction with ‘Skills Development’ at 87.1%, and satisfaction with Student Support at 84.3%. These results place AC in the top 10% of colleges and universities in Australia. We can all be proud of our University College.

We now have more than 10,000 Alumni on our database, many of them pastors or former pastors.

We are grateful for their fruitful ministry and their continuing support. AC is one of the shared experiences for many ACC ministers and we have recently instituted new alumni programs to provide opportunities for people to remain connected with AC and with each other.

We are looking to the future with expectation of God’s continuing blessing. Our next strategic focus will be on the goal of becoming a global Christian University transforming neighbourhoods and nations. Achieving university status will be a significant challenge and will require growth, quality education delivery, investment into research, and enhancement of all aspects of operation. It will also require strong support from our movement. This is not a path we can walk alone, nor would we want to.

Leadership and Structure

The leadership of AC has remained stable during this conference period. Stephen and Sandra Fogarty celebrated 29 years of leadership and service to AC in January 2023. Several staff received Dedicated Service Awards, celebrating 10, 15, or 20 years with AC. AC remains closely aligned to ACC in leadership and governance. The governing body of AC is the Council which is elected by the Members of the Company at the Annual General Meeting. Michael Murphy is the Chair of the Council. The Members of the Company are the elected National and State Executive Members of ACC. The Council members are:

Pastor Michael Murphy (Chair)

Mr Mark Burgess (Deputy Chair)

Professor Lily Arasaratnam-Smith

Pastor Brad Bonhomme

Dr Stephen Crouch

Professor Stephen Fogarty (President)

Mr Scott Haslem

Professor Martin Hovey

Alphacrucis graduation

Mr Gary Lottering

Dr David Perry (Chair of Academic Board

Assoc Professor Stuart Piggin

Mrs Wendy Simpson

Mr Paul Vinton

The members of the Executive Team are:

Professor Stephen Fogarty (President)

Professor Lily Arasaratnam-Smith (DVP Faculty)

Pastor Greg Cortese (VP Operations)

Professor Mark Hutchinson (VP Development

Mr Gary Lottering (VP Growth)

Dr David Perry (VP Academic)

Statistics and Facts

AC is both a Higher Education Provider and a Registered Training Organisation. It is one of only five University Colleges in Australia and one of only 13 institutions in Australia with the same Self-Accrediting Authority as universities. This demonstrates the government’s high level of trust in our quality and standards. AC offers courses at Certificate, Diploma, Bachelor, Masters, and Doctoral level.

• Total enrolled students remained steady at 3,701 in 2021 and 3,682 in 2022. This is significant given the disruption we all endured in this period.

• AC has campuses in Adelaide, Auckland, Brisbane, Hobart, Melbourne, Perth, and Sydney.

• AC partners with over 130 churches and colleges in Australia and overseas.

• AC has four Higher Education Third Party Arrangements to deliver AC degree courses: Hillsong College (Sydney); National Institute for Christian Education (Sydney); Iso Kirja College (Finland); and Asia Pacific Theological Seminary (Philippines).

• AC operates Learning Centres at St Philip’s Christian College, Hunter Valley (Education Hub), C3 Oxford Falls, and Iglesia El Lugar de Su Presencia in Bogotá, Colombia.

• AC offers courses in four Languages Other Than English (LOTE): Korean, Spanish, Finnish, and Italian.

• AC was able to maintain its annual revenue within a steady range between $27.6m in 2021 and $27.2m in 2022, despite the sector-wide challenges caused by the pandemic.

• Net equity has also been largely maintained and is currently at $36.2m which has the College in a healthy Balance Sheet position.

• Total permanent staff at the end of 2022 was over 200, with over 280 casuals and sessional lecturers able to be called upon.

Training, Equipping & Resources

AC continues to serve ACC through developing resources, providing training, and offering professional development for leaders. During 2021 and 2022, in

addition and apart from regular educational offerings, AC has provided:

• A range of Professional Credential courses, including Leading Through Crisis, Understanding Revelation, and Leading Change. This range will increase in 2023.

• Expertise to the ACC National Executive developing positional papers on current issues.

• Expertise to the ACC National Executive revising the ACC doctrinal statement.

• Expertise to the ACC NSW Discipleship Working Group.

• Professional Development at ACC Regional Meetings and Pastors’ Intensives.

• Leadership resources for ACC pastors and leaders.

• Training for chaplaincy for Chaplaincy Australia.

• Training in support of the ministry of Youth Alive.

• Training in support of ACC Community Engagement initiatives, working closely with national and state leaders in this area.

• Local Church College program and resources designed specifically for discipleship and leadership development within local churches.

• A number of free online masterclasses featuring topics such as “staying focused in a world of distraction”, “women in leadership”, and “public leadership in a hostile environment”.

Highlights

• AC continued its strong history of partnering with churches and aligned organisations including A21, Christian Education Ministries, Kingdomcity, and Lachlan Macquarie Institute. AC received reregistration as a higher education provider for 7 years with no conditions.

• AC received re-registration as a higher education provider for 7 years with no conditions.

• AC received 87.4% student satisfaction with the ‘Quality of Entire Educational Experience’, 90.4% satisfaction with ‘Teaching Quality’, 87.1% satisfaction with ‘Skills Development’, and 84.3% satisfaction with Student Support at 84.3%.

• New courses were accredited, including: Certificate IV in Ministry and Discipleship, Diploma of Christian Ministry, Advanced Diploma of Christian Ministry, Diploma of Entrepreneurship, Bachelor of Education (Early Childhood and Primary), Undergraduate Certificate in Community Services, Diploma of Music, Graduate Certificate in Trauma-Informed Practice, Graduate Certificate in Professional Supervision, Graduate Certificate in Wellbeing Studies, Graduate Diploma of Counselling, and Master of Counselling.

• New academic appointments were made, including: Associate Professor Johannes Luetz, Associate Professor Alistair Symons, and Associate

Professor Jeffrey Aernie.

• Professor Jacqui Grey spoke at the World Council of Churches General Assembly in Germany on the ‘Ecumenical Engagement of Pentecostals’ and participated at the Catholic/Pentecostal International Dialogue in Rome as one of eight Pentecostals representing our global movement.

• Council awarded Honorary Doctorates to Phil Pringle and Russell Evans.

New Initiatives

• Development of Allied Health courses in partnership with significant faith-based healthcare providers. We are running a pilot project this semester and planning a large-scale rollout in 2023.

• Partnering with industry on cadetship programs for entrepreneurs.

• Revamping our Certificate IV in Ministry and Discipleship to align it more closely with ACC leadership and local church needs. The new version will be available during 2023 and will include input from significant church leaders.

• Developing short courses and micro-credentials which could serve as short and topical training programs for pastors who are seeking continuing professional development.

• Working with ACC NSW on their church planting pilot program and other pathways for leadership development.

• Expanding our fundraising program. We have just received our first million-dollar gift and look forward to many more soon.

Goals and Vision

AC’s Mission, Vision, and Values remain consistent.

Mission:

• Equipping Christian leaders to change the world.

Vision:

• A global Christian university, transforming neighbourhoods and nations.

Values:

• Christian: We are committed to an orthodox view of Scriptures and serving the Church.

• Growth: We are committed to organisational growth.

• Integrity: We are committed to accountability and reliability in our dealings.

• Excellence: We are committed to doing our personal best for God.

• Faith: We are committed to an attitude of faith.

• Health: We are committed to personal and organisational health.

• Humility: We are committed to humility before God. The College Strategic Plan contains a more elaborate and specific description of goals, strategies, projects, and intended outcomes.

The Council and staff of AC consider it a privilege to serve God and Australian Christian Churches. We recognise and appreciate our wonderful history and anticipate a significant future as we participate in ACC’s expanding influence within Australia and overseas.

Stephen Fogarty AC President

Training Kids Leaders

Everyone wants to have an impact in their world. Children’s Ministry has shifted from traditional Sunday School to an impacting, vibrant, growth causing ministry in the life of local Churches. ACCkids provides to the wider church leadership development into this area through conferences, training events, formal education and mentoring so that the Church can influence locally and into the world.

Over the past two years ACCkids has been focussed on Leadership development through the demographic of Children’s Leaders. In that time we have held 2 x Kidshaper National Tour events which is a five City training event over one week. We have continued with our successful Coaching Program, continued with our weekly Leadership Podcast, partnered with OneHope to bring relevant research and training along with resources to churches.

Leadership and structure

Over the last two years we have had some changes in State Leaders with the current team listed below.

National Andy Kirk

QLD/NT Laura Douglas

NSW Allyson Parker

VIC Todd Werner (took over from Barry Newton)

WA Bek Van Sant (took over from Jordan Keehan)

SA Alice McInnes

Training, Equipping & Resources

ACCkids has continued to develop it’s Coaching program and well over 90 Kids pastors and leaders

have been trained and mentored. The continuation of the ACCkids Kids Ministry and Leadership Podcast has created another platform for Kids pastors and leaders to upskill weekly. The Podcast has seen the leading Kids Pastors Internationally feature along with incredible Australian pastors and leaders from within our Movement

Highlights

The main highlights in the last 2 years has been the expansion into training through ACCkids Coaching and the partnership with OneHope that delivers research to arm and equip the churches. These Studies include: Guiding Children, Households of Faith and the Global Youth Culture reports. The resources of The Bible App for Kids, Kids Bible Experience have also assisted.

New initiatives

OneHope and YouVersion Partnership

OneHope and YouVersion brought us the Bible App for Kids a number of years ago and this has been an incredible resource for families. ACCkids has been joined with both these organizations around a new project ‘Kids Daily Bible Experience’ which has launched stage one on the YouVersion App. The creation of Content and continued joint partnerships will see many of our leading ACC Churches Kids Ministries involved.

Roundtable Events

In 2022 & 2023 we have hosted Roundtable events that have gathered key churches from around Australia to look into the latest research and work together on large projects together as the wider Body of Christ

Goals and vision

Over the coming two years, ACCkids plan to continue growing and developing leaders in Children’s Ministry. We are looking for a continued growth in attendance in all our events and initiatives as we serve the wider church. We aim to outwork this through:

• More intentional Leadership development to these Regional Leaders (whether online or other specific training opportunities)

• A yearly Key Kids Leaders Summit

• Continue to give Kids pastors / leaders coaching opportunities (especially to support new leaders as they take on a seemingly daunting role)

• Continue to build the Kidshaper tour and Conference, for opportunities for leaders to gather and be inspired.

• Create a communal online cloud that people can access resources / templates or that key leaders could contribute resources that may help others.

• Greater education to Senior Leaders and Ministry Staff around engagement with families and discipleship

As ACCkids continues over the coming two years to outwork the training and development of Children’s pastors and leaders we would like to thank the ACC National Executive for it’s ongoing support. For local churches wanting any information on how they can be a part of all that is being offered please contact us at info@acckids.org.au

Andy Kirk ACCKids National Leader

Horizon St Andrews Kids ministry

Inspirational Women

The women of our movement are incredibly inspirational! They have continued to offer leadership; to cast vision, as well as host various meetings, and at times, creative ways to gather throughout the 20212023 period.

Each state has a very capable and gifted leader at the helm who is empowered to lead the women of her state according to the needs and opportunities therein. As a result, the leadership structure of ACW has evolved to mean that there is no longer a single figurehead leader, but rather, a group of leaders several who share ideas, contribute to one another’s success and run their race in their state with a focus on empowering, equipping and inspiring the women within their sphere.

I see my role to encourage and gather those leaders with a view to providing a space for collaboration and co-inspiration. I continue to be encouraged by the passion and leadership each of the state leaders bring to their role.

Current State ACW leaders

QLD/NT: Michelle Fredericks

NSW/ACT: Roz Zaia

VIC: Franca Heins

TAS: Karen Sharples

SA: Yvonne Zerna

WA: Sharon Chelliah

Leadership changes

Victoria: Georgie Baxter passed the leadership for ACW in Victoria onto Franca Heins at the end of 2022. Georgie led ACW in Victoria for a number of years and her Enjoy Women’s Conference was a highlight for so many women over that time. Thank you Georgie for

your leadership and encouragement to the women of Victoria and beyond.

South Australia: At the end of 2021 Janine Donato stepped down from the role as ACW representative in South Australia & Yvonne Zerner stepped into the role! Janine is an incredible encouragement to so many and had the ability to gather women and make them feel seen and loved in a way that was truly inspirational Thankyou Janine for your leadership in South Australia. Yvonne is looking forward to launching online meetings for women to increase connection and with her experience in ministry over many years, she will be a huge blessing to the women across the State!

Tasmania: Alix Morse handed the leadership for ACW onto Karen Sharples at the 2022 state conference. Alix has such a heart for female leaders and has been passionate about seeing them encouraged and equipped. Thankyou Alix for all you have sown into the women in Tasmania.

Highlights and Future Goals from each State

TASMANIA – Karen Sharples has been re-establishing relational connection between the female leaders in Tasmania after the disconnect that resulted from Covid-19. Karen’s heart is for authentic relationship which is foundational for the small but beautiful state of Tasmania. Larger gatherings are planned for the women of the state in coming months. Further, Karen is passionate about equipping and empowering female leaders to grow in their gifts and have opportunity to develop their leadership potential across various areas within the movement.

QUEENSLAND + NT – Michelle Fredericks has held 8 events over the last two years which have been close to 3,500 women attend. This is remarkable considering the restrictions on gatherings. The gatherings have been in the form of localised Let’s Get Together Dinner Parties, Webinars and Instagram live events which aimed to move away from larger gatherings, to gathering women together in their hometowns.  This has been very successful. Michelle has created the content, and then the women gather together in the way that best suits them. Gatherings can look like a couple of women watching from a lounge room to 100’s gathering in local churches. The content for the dinner parties has been provided from incredible leaders such as Sue Mulhare, Dave and Jenny Gilpin, Ruth Limpkin, Kirsty Emery, Julia A’Bell, Darlene Zschech, Robi Sonderegger, Deb Candler and Renee Bennett. Michelle plans to hold 3 Dinner Parties and a

2-night retreat for female senior pastors and/or wives of, on the Gold Coast in the next year. Her heart build community so that no woman feels alone.  Together we love Jesus, others and become someone’s biggest cheerleader.

SOUTH AUSTRALIA - Highlights from the last 2 years across the state include; XO Conference hosted by Donna Hall from Revival City Church with guest speakers Nadia Clark, Laura Toggs & Sjhana Greenwood including a leadership breakfast for women around the State. Pauline Sanostefano from One Heart Church in Port Lincoln hosted a Spring retreat with guest speaker Layla Nahavandi where women encountered the Holy Spirit! Influencers Church celebrated 20 years of bU Women’s Conference and Fashion Show with founder and Senior Pastor Jane Evans, hosted by Sjhana Greenwood and celebrated

State & ACW leaders 2022

over 47 decisions for Christ including the Mayor of Salisbury, SA! It is incredible to report that from 2021 to 2022 the following has been raised;

$40,773 donated to Cancer Council through Pink Ribbon Morning Teas

$26,195 donated to Eastern Adelaide Domestic Violence Service

$3,600 donated towards nourishing meals for new mums

$2,500 donated to local Primary School to help newly arrived Afghan families.

VICTORIA In the last two years, there have been 40 women who have become full credentialled ministers (OMC), 45 women obtain their PMC and another 8 obtain their SMC in Victoria. Franca is passionate about seeing more women rise up into leadership positions and step into their ministry callings throughout the next two years. At the 2022 State Conference Franca ran the first ‘Women in Ministry’ lunch. 230 women attended and heard from our phenomenal panel about leadership, ministry, balancing family and ministry and so much more. This is something that will be built upon at the Victorian state conference each year. Coming out of a time of covid isolation, the women in Victoria are strong, leading with strength and unity and supporting each other on this ministry journey.

WESTERN AUSTRALIA In 2021 Sharon Chelliah launched a new initiative called ‘Breakfast with the Girls’. These breakfasts are social gatherings aimed at strengthening and encouraging the formation of relationships between the female leaders and pastors in our movement.  In May 2021, Generations City hosted a breakfast in the North with 55 women in attendance. The South gathering hosted by Centrepoint Church saw 59 women in attendance. In May 2022 our breakfasts saw 67 women attend our North gathering at Chorus Church in Beechboro. For the South gathering 60 women met at Chosen Church in Kelmscott. These breakfasts are now an annual event, with a different church hosting these gatherings for North and South each year. In August 2021 WA held a One day Conference at Kingdomcity in Mandurah where 430 women gathered together. It was an incredible time of encouragement. In August 2022 the One day Conference was held at Globalheart Church in Joondalup where over 500 women were in attendance. We are so excited for what God has been doing in our midst. Looking forward to 2023 we will continue to host the breakfasts and the One day Conference.  As a new initiative we would like to send a female contingent with our state’s regional ministry team to minister to the women in our outback churches and communities.

NEW

SOUTH WALES + ACT

In 2021, Roz Zaia hosted a retreat for female senior pastors which provided a space for connection and encouragement. Due to Covid, the annual state conference lunch could not go ahead, so two Instagram lives with Darlene Zchech and Julia A’Bell provided inspirational teaching to the women of NSW. In 2022, gatherings and conference returned in Canberra, Tamworth, Singelton and Sydney. Lunch at the October State conference with Ally Cawthorn also went ahead. The topic was “letting go of false expectations.“ It was absolutely brilliant and the 100 women who attended enjoyed getting to know Ally. In November, there was a leadership retreat where fifty women spent two nights away with guest preachers, breakout sessions, panel, walks in the country, a touch of shopping and coffee. This was a highlight for ACW in NSW as leaders gathered in a space where they could build relationships and be equipped for their leadership journey.

New Initiative

As part of the ACC’s commitment to empower and equip female leaders, a new initiative called ‘ACC Align’ will be launched in the second half of 2023. This is a national leadership program focused on developing, upskilling and providing opportunity for greater networking among women in leadership. The program is online and runs once a month - for five months. The program will be:

Formational – Each month will include online/live teaching that will cover a topic pertinent to the goal of the program;

Reflective – Following the teaching, each participant will be offered a worksheet that encourages a reflective engagement with the material. This reflection will not only encourage reflection on the teaching, but how that teaching informs their current practice and leadership reality; and

Relational – Small groups will be formed and continue throughout the 5-month program. There will also be opportunity to engage with woman from across the nation, thus prompting greater relational networks among female leaders in the movement. More information regarding this program will be emailed soon – so keep an eye out for that.

What an incredibly fruitful two years it has been. I look forward to seeing that God is going to do in the coming years as we continue to build our movement together.

Ally Cawthorn ACC Women Portfolio

Perth regional gathering

On the Frontline

Overview

Over the last two years Chaplaincy Australia has consistently delivered effective frontline Chaplaincy support across the country. We are a sought out, reliable & responsive network, with a strong and growing reputation.

We currently have over 580 Chaplains and Associates and over 950 members in the network. During this conference period we have grown by 17%, exceeding all of our expectations.

• We have an incredible team working together delivering state-based Chaplaincy

• We continue to receive multiple requests and opportunities across 27 sectors

• We have growing connections and partnerships with Local Churches

• We have over 120 Supervisors and Mentors offering support

• We have 1800Chaplain functioning every day, supporting our whole community

Chaplaincy has become part of the DNA of our movement. During the last 24 months, our chaplains have again proven their readiness to respond to everyday crisis and times of national emergency. Whether it has been assisting with grief, loss and trauma or supporting people in the midst of disaster, our chaplains have stepped up and made a difference. Our chaplains minister across 26 Sectors Australian Society and it is true to say that wherever there is a group of people, there is an opportunity for a Chaplain to make a difference.

Our Chaplaincy Australia team is ready and enthusiastic to continue to be one of the principal providers of highly skilled, thoroughly trained and passionate chaplains across Australia.

Leadership and structure

Pastor Ralph Estherby is the National Director/CEO of Chaplaincy Australia, and he reports to the National Board.

Whilst a ‘national entity’ the ministry of Chaplaincy happens at the ‘grass roots’ level in each of the States. Effective state teams are working with their State Executives, they ‘tailor’ their response to meet the needs of the State they serve.

The National Board is chaired by Andrew Coghlan who works with the other members, Bronwyn Bonnell, John Spinella, Marcella Hernandez and Katie Diou. We also thank Sonny Yee & Pastor Kerrie Frizzell who have served during this period.

We have an excellent team of State Directors and Department Leaders including:

New South Wales/ACT Deb Kuhna

Queensland/NT Angie Herranz

South Australia Jeff Marshall

Tasmania Gus Yearsley

Victoria Mark Penny

Western Australia Jody Sisley

Supervision & Mentoring Susan Marcuccio

1800Chaplain Michelle Fife

We want to acknowledge the incredible work that is being done by this great team and the many volunteers who support them.

We would also like to honour Glenise Dedrick the previous VIC State Director who served during this conference period.Glenise is a hero and leaves a lasting legacy in VIC and beyond!

Stats and facts

Training, Equipping, & Resources

• Training continues to be our most effective method of Discovering, Developing and Deploying new Chaplains. Our ongoing partnership with Alphacrucis University College continues to be a great strength. The partnership of CA and AC has the potential to offer a standard of training in Chaplaincy and Pastoral Care which we believe is second to none. We are looking forward to a great year of growth in our AC training.

• One of the major growth areas for CA continues to be in the area of ongoing Professional Development. We have had opportunities to work directly with Churches as they have sought to upskill their teams. We have worked with Supervisors and Mentors to ensure that they are fully equipped for the task and we have continued to work with our Chaplains – making certain that they are effective and up to date with the latest thinking and understandings.

• We continue to offer training in Mental Health First Aid, Domestic Violence, Grief and Loss, Trauma, Navigating complex conversations and, Suicide response and prevention. We are also offering tailored training in Practical Pastoral Care for Church teams.

• All of our training is presented by excellent communicators who are also practitioners with extensive practical experience in Chaplaincy and Church leadership.

• Our goal continues to have the best equipped Chaplains in the nation as we continue to develop courses to meet the needs.

Highlights

The work of our Chaplains is always our greatest highlight of any report. The selfless and timely response to need which our Chaplains bring is a joy to recount. Whether it is at a workplace, in an aged care facility, in a school, at a sporting event or on a cruise ship – Chaplains are there doing their thing. But apart from that ‘everyday’ chaplaincy we see them respond to accidents and disasters – floods, fires, tragedy and pandemic crisis. It has become expected that we will be there when there is an issue – and we will!

The launch of 1800Chaplain in Nov 2021 was the start of a highlight which has now continued every day for over 16 months. Thousands of calls and thousands of hours support have been offered. We are excited about the possibilities of expanding 1800Chaplain to 12 hours per day in the coming months. We would encourage every Church to explore how 1800Chaplain could assist you in providing skilled and effective Pastoral Care to your community.

Our Supervision and Mentoring Strategy is our third highlight. We now have over 120 Supervisors and Mentors offering support to all of our Chaplains and our Pastors. Supervision is becoming widely understood as an imperative part of health ministry practice. Our CA Supervisors and Mentors are all highly trained and experienced and will enhance your ministry journey. We invite you to check out our Supervision resources at Conference this year. There are so many other highlights to mention:

• Workplace Chaplains placed in FIFO communities in WA.

• Growth in workplace Chaplaincy requests across varied industries.

• Highly successful Chaplaincy Conferences

• 32 ACC ADF Chaplains in service with representation at the highest levels. The goal of having at least one CA Chaplain in every ACC Church is moving towards fulfilment with more and more Pastors realising that chaplaincy is a transformational asset to impact their community.

New initiatives

This next conference season is all about expansion...

• Expansion of 1800Chaplain (from 6 to 12 hours each day)

• Expansion of our Professional Development (Impacting States and Local Churches)

• Expansion of Supervision and Mentoring- Ensuring all of our Pastors, Leaders and Chaplains are adequately supported.

Goals and Vision

We want to become one of the largest and most trusted providers of Christian Chaplaincy across all sectors of the Australian Community.

We are projecting growth of 7% per year – by Conference 2025 we will be expecting 1097 in the network.

We continue to work towards the goal of having a Chaplain or a Chaplaincy ministry attached to every ACC Church.

We are working towards the long-term goal of having 1800Chaplain known and utilised across the country.

Chaplaincy continues to be an opportunity for your Church to make an impact across every sector of your community. Imagine the potential of highly skilled, well trained and motivated individuals reaching out with passion to demonstrate the love, compassion and acceptance of Christ – what could the Lord do with that?

Chaplaincy Australia is ready to assist you prepare your people to make a difference!

Ralph Estherby National Director/CEO

COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT

Beyond the walls of the Church

Like most National departments, we aim to have a representative Community Engagement Leader is each state:

NSW/ACT Josh Hammann

WA Aaron Pryce

SA Garry Lynch

VIC Daniel Sanders

QLD/NT Phil Cutcliffe

Darren Braund and Andrew Harper stepped down from their role as SA and NSW/ACT leaders; we thank them for their hard work and amazing loyalty to Community Engagement. We are currently looking to fill the state leader role in Tasmania.

Training and Equipping

During 2021 and 2022 we continued to train ACC pastors and leaders using the following methods and formats:

Diploma of Community Services

This course is designed to equip people to think and act differently regarding community transformation. In partnership with Alphacrucis and ACC Community Engagement we were able to offer this course in person and online during 2020.

Course Participation:

2021 – 26 Students

2022 – 30 Students

Our goal is to have a trained person in every ACC church.

ACC Community Engagement Summits

During 2021 and 2022, the Community Engagement team hosted three summits, two online and one in person.

Summit – April 2021

Over 100 people attended the ACC Community Engagement Strategic Summit on the Gold Coast during National Conference week in April 2021. This was a great opportunity to hear from the national community engagement leader, Paul Bartlett, and the NAYBA national leader, Nic Mackay, on the future direction of community engagement in Australia. It was also an opportunity to gain valuable feedback from those in attendance on how their churches are positioned to engage their communities and what the community engagement leaders can do to assist this endeavour. Guests were also able to hear from and connect with the Red Frogs and Kids Hope teams.

Online Summit – September 2021

Over 200 people attended via zoom for the Summit focusing on Mental Health. Clinical psychologist, Garfield Thompson from Alta 1 was the guest speaker and gave practical tips for pastors to assist where possible, with the mental health of their community.

Online Summit – August 2022

Matthew Barnett from the LA Dream Center joined as our guest speaker. Matthew is one of the great leaders in community engagement and he was able to encourage and inspire the pastors and leaders who joined the zoom. We had over 150 register to join the online summit.

Round Tables

After two years of pandemic and lockdowns we’ve learned that community engagement is as important as ever for our churches. Round table events provide an opportunity to share stories as well as learning from the experience of others.

Round tables were held in QLD/NT and VIC during 2022 and other states will host pastors and leaders in 2023.

Breakout Sessions at State Conferences

ACC Community Engagement continues to host breakout sessions at each of our state conferences. In 2022 over 250 people attended a community engagement breakout session.

Goals and Vision

Our Vision is to partner with ACC pastors and churches to strengthen the way in which they influence and serve their communities. We will help them in their community work from transactional programs to transformational. We achieve this through training such as the Diploma of Community Services. One day “Building strong Communities” seminars. Roundtable discussion and shared learning through to coaching.

In the past 10 years we have seen our churches go from 62% Engagement in Community to 93% ( NCLS ) we have identified however there is a gap between professional services for community and the everyday church attendee.

It’s our goal over the next two years to create discussion, thinking and training to help bridge that gap.

Importantly as community attitudes and values are shifting at a rapid rate, we have a goal to develop and adapt our training to better equip churches in this changing environment.

Lastly we want to thank the State Presidents for providing great community engagement leaders in each state and the National Executive for making sure Community Engagement has a voice, in particular we are much appreciative of the Stream we are doing at National Conference.

Paul Bartlett National Leader: Community Engagegement

EMERITUS PASTORS

Valued Service

“

So, what do you do now that you have retired?” I am often asked, which gives me the impression that at the heart of this question is the assumption that pastors who retire from the busy-ness of ministry, now fall into a vacuum of idleness and leisure. I am happy to say that this could not be further from the truth.

In the ACC we have just over 400 members in the Emeritus family which, in no way, indicates the diminishing of our ministry potential. Rather, this provides an amazing array of opportunities for our well-equipped and life-experienced senior ministers to become a valued resource base for a wide range of services both in the ACC, as well as the community in general.

Space does not allow for a complete list of areas where our 'retired' pastors serve but they include, Chaplaincy, Local Church Seniors, Pastoral Care, Mentoring, English language tutoring for migrants, Religious Instruction, Discipleship Training, Leadership Development, relief ministry in country churches and missions’ trips. It is abundantly evident that the passion for ministry and service for the Kingdom of God does not fade in retirement. The scope just gets wider and more focused.

The coordinating our Emeritus ministry at grassroots level is the responsibility of each our state leaders. Wendy Megschelse (Qld/NT); Ian & Doreen Bartley (NSW); Shane & Millie Lepp (Vic); Ron & Marilyn Wilson (Tas.); Pattie Hardy (WA.) and Trevor & Valmai Aurichts (SA.) who have now relinquished their leadership role. Thank you, Trevor and Valmai for your faithful service. Each of our State Coordinators have set up meaningful communication networks and fellowship opportunities, including morning teas, luncheons, zoom calls to name a few. It was encouraging to hear that most State Conferences this past year saw record numbers of our Emeritus Pastors in attendance. This creates an excellent environment for connection with our younger pastors on the frontlines.

I would like to thank our State Coordinators for the inspiration and support they provide for our pastors in their various ministry functions.

On a national level, the quarterly emails are being utilised to address some of the key issues relating to ministry retirement with the intent of creating conversations about the challenges facing our retirees. To date, these have included, Transitioning to Retirement with a Clear Mind, Doing Life in Retirement Together with Your Spouse, and Dealing with Declining Health. These will continue with other relevant topics.

It is a pleasure serving the ACC with such an awesome group of men and women who have not only contributed to the great heritage of the ACC but are still able to make a significant contribution to the Kingdom of God in their “retirement years”.

Laine WIllis National Co-ordinator

NATIONAL PRAYER NETWORK

It’s been an honour and privilege to operate our ACC National Prayer-net, where we pray for our pastors and families around our nation and overseas. Currently we have 56 prayer warriors in operation ready to pray at any moment. Encouraging words come back from our intercessors like, “praying”, “have prayed”, “trusting God for a miracle” and “His a miracle working God”.

These people are ready to pray immediately and we have heard of some amazing miraculous results. We thank them so much for their heart of pray.

Remember we are here to pray for you!

David O'Keefe National Prayer Co-ordinator prayer@acc.org.au

SAFER CHURCHES

Creating safer churches for all

Our Safer Churches Strategy continues to provide our churches with best practice guidelines, reporting requirements and training to ensure that Children and Young people, and indeed all vulnerable people, who form part of our churches, ministries or access our services, are protected from harm. This is ongoing work as we respond to legislative change, emerging trends we see in calls to our helpline, or through other professional collaboration, and as we grow in our understanding and ability to care for those who are either at risk of, or have experienced harm.

Safer Churches Team

The State Safer Churches Officers meet regularly to review our progress and refine our Safer Churches strategy to increase its effectiveness across all ministry areas. We thank them for their dedication and commitment.

We particularly want to acknowledge the work and commitment from Mark Bates (VIC) and Gus Yearsley (TAS) for their time as State Safer Churches Officers. We thank them for all they have done to serve our Movement in the State Safer Churches role. We have welcomed Aaron Walker (VIC) and Rhonda Wilson (TAS) to our team since last conference. Both Rhonda and Aaron bring a wealth of experience and wisdom from their professional training and pastoral roles at a local church.

Training and Resources

Since the implementation of our Child Protection Policy in December 2016, we have continued to review and update our training, resources and guidelines to reflect current legislation and implementation best practice. 2022 saw our Safer Churches Training move to a new online platform, allowing each local church be able to track their own volunteers. The Volunteer’s Essentials

was updated to include a refresher course, for those who have previously completed this training. Our helpline also moved to a secure jotform for reporting, greatly improving privacy and secure storage of such sensitive concerns.

The Implementation Kit for churches can be found under the Pastor’s login and Safer Churches. The Implementation Kit is regularly reviewed and updated to assist churches with implementation of the Child Protection Policy and Guidelines, and is an invaluable resource for our churches. You will find supporting documents to assist with implementing each of the Safer Churches Guidelines, which are the outworking of our Policy.

New Initiatives

In 2022, Your Choicez worked to develop TeenFree for ACC youth leaders and young people. This invaluable resource in video and small group format will help young people understand consent and the value of the human person, as well as the negative impacts of Image Based Abuse, pornography and sexting.

Safer churches is visionary leadership. It understands the value of children and young people, and indeed all people to God, and seeks to ensure that all steps have been taken to protect them from harm. Governing boards, leadership teams, volunteers and congregations not only recognize the value of each individual, but they also recognize how creating a safe culture bears witness to Christ within their community.

Allyson Parker National Director: Safer Churches

Next Gen ministry

Youth Alive continues to have significant influence and impact on this generation as we engage thousands of youth and young adults across the nation with the truth of Jesus Christ. The national cohesion is greater than ever as we work together as one!

Leadership and Structure

We thank the National Youth Alive Team as they continually invest into this generation of young people with passion and dedication. The team includes:

Cameron Bennett (National Director and QLD)

Renee Bennett (National Academy Director)

David Edgar (VIC Director)

Dave Reardon (VIC Academy)

Sam Long (SA Director)

Cath Phelan (SA Academy)

Sam Cogger (TAS)

Matt Wilesmith (NSW)

Tim Biasetto (NSW Academy)

Andrew Williams (WA)

Ash Williams (WA Academy)

A special acknowledgment to all of the State Directors that have finished in their capacity as Youth Alive State Directors since 2021. Thank you Matt Sharples for leading in Tasmania.

Stats and Facts

The past season has been one of the most challenging to lead people through, and yet has so much hope for the future. Throughout the 2021-2023 years, the impact of coronavirus and government responses was

significant as youth ministries returned to ‘in-person’ meetings.

Conferences, outreach events, leadership development and Academy all engaged in effective online strategies and delivery but also prepared for re-entry.

All programs and events:

• 107,345 in attendance

• 6,917 responses to follow Christ

Training, Equipping & Resources

In each state, Youth Alive equips young leaders through various leadership programs and events.

• 237 students trained in the leadership academy in partnership with Alphacrucis

Events: National & State

Regional Events: localised outreach events that create opportunities to develop leaders and reach young people in their regional context.

• Leadership Equipping Events have different forms across the country to meet the needs of the local churches in that area.

• Leadership Academy is a significant leadership environment that challenges, trains and nurtures the call of God upon students to reach this generation of young people.

The academy continues to innovate in its delivery strategies, to connect students across the nation and engage communicators from across the globe.

Goals and vision

Youth Alive is being strategic and intentional towards outworking its mandate through:

• Reaching the lost

• Raising leaders

• Resourcing the local church

• Reviving a generation

Youth Alive would like to thank Ps Wayne Alcorn and the ACC National Executive for their ongoing support and belief in the next generation.

Cameron Bennett YA National Leader

Youth Alive Rally Victoria 2022

ACC STATE REPORTS 2021–2023

Innovative Strategies

NSW + the ACT is full of amazing churches and Pastors, I have seen this first-hand as we emerge from a very challenging two years. The way churches have adapted and begun to do new and innovative things, shows the strength of faith and resilience in our movement.

Leadership

There were several adjustments to the NSW/ACT State Executive team at the State Conference in October 2022. Pastors Chris Smith (Secretary/Treasurer) and Brad Bonhomme decided not to re-nominate for the current term. Mark Zschech and Louise Antonius were elected to the team, and Ken Fischer was elected to Secretary/Treasurer role.

I am very grateful to both Chris and Brad for their service to the State (Chris for serving a decade). Their contribution was significant to the health and growth of our State.

I am extremely thankful to have exceptional pastors who willingly lead our 14 regions and 10 specialised ministry areas. Together with their local teams, they are providing leadership and pastoral care to more than 334 churches and 945 credential holders. In this last conference period, we have granted 63 Ordination Credentials, 99 Probationary Credentials and 9 Specialised Ministry Credentials.

Training

We continue to provide training and opportunities for professional development for our pastors. Some of the opportunities include:

• Ministry Essentials – for all pastors wanting to progress to ordination

• Starting Strong – for anyone interested in planting a church

• Regional Gatherings – four per year, providing an opportunity to connect and be encouraged

• Specialised ministry PD for Chaplains, Kids Ministry workers, SRE, Youth Leaders, Community workers and supervisors etc.

Alphacrucis University College is an incredible resource, providing masterclasses and training space for us to utilise.

Conferences

In 2021, due to further government restrictions, our State Conference was not able to proceed. Even though we are not able to meet in person, leading up to when the State Conference had been scheduled, messages from Paul Bartlett, Mark Varughese and Gillian Cameron were sent to our pastors. We also held Instagram Lives with Gillian Cameron and Mark Varughese.

In 2022, after two years of not being able to hold our State Conference face to face, the pastors of the State were keen to gather again in Port Macquarie, for our NSW State Conference, ‘BRAVE’, with 1,341 delegates, we enjoyed an incredible week of ministry from Mark Varughese, Dale Stephenson, Ally Cawthorn, Darlene Zschech, and our State Executive Team. The conference celebrated pastors who had shown exceptional bravery through COVID, natural disasters and opposition of varying kinds.

We continue to see great results in our four focuses;

Four focus areas

Planting churches that plant churches

Despite the impact of the pandemic, we were able to plant 25 churches! We have a detailed strategy to plant 30 new churches in this conference period.

Lifting awareness of Indigenous

We have designed an infographic containing information to assist churches implement good practice when working and engaging with Aboriginal

and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples. Each guide provides a general overview, to encourage discussion and understanding. The infographic will continue to develop.

We are also:

Identifying and raising more Indigenous pastors and helping local churches to be culturally aware - Introducing Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country in all our gatherings - Investing in training Indigenous Pastors and Planting Indigenous churches

Raising young influencers

In 2022, Young Influencers were able to meet for the first-time face to face since the pandemic. We took up a special offering and raised funds to appoint an incredible leader, Joel Mitchell, to oversee this ministry. We have also increased our engagement with Red Frogs and Paul Dent is doing an incredible job in this space; he also needs to raise further funds to continue in this ministry.

Promoting a discipleship culture

Our Discipleship menu was activated on the ACC NSW/ACT website and media platforms in this conference period.

As we look to the next two years, we have a goal to plant 30 churches, as there are huge population growth areas particularly in Sydney West.

We are strengthening the opportunity for pastors to become healthy through ongoing mentoring and supervision.

A big thank you to our State Executive and our staff

NSW + ACT State Conference 2022

QUEENSLAND + NORTHERN TERRITORY

Advancing the Gospel

In 2021-22, we saw our churches start to re-emerge after navigating the effects of the pandemic. It was a time when churches started regathering and reestablishng themselves. At the start of 2023, there is much optimism across our churches and a general feeling that we are now through the Covid years and are ready to advance the kingdom like never before.

Even though affected by the pandemic, many of our projects and initiatives during 2021-22 continued to blossom.

• 22 churches were planted

• 316 pastors were credentialled

• Emerging leaders had a record number of 400 attendees during the conference period.

• Youth Alive reinstituted a state rally in 2022 with hundreds of young people coming to Christ.

• A culture of pastors health and well-being is starting to permeate through our state.

• A large offering was taken up at 2021 state conference to help a pioneer church in a nation that is closed to the gospel.

• Over 10,000 students are enrolled in ACC Christian Schools.

Leadership

At the 2022 State conference, John Hunt stood down as State President after 12 years of incredible service in that capacity as well as an additional 10 years previously serving on the State executive. We took time on the last night of conference to appropriately honour John and Francine for the legacy they have left in our state. Our state has never been healthier and much of that has to do with John’s wise leadership. I am personally grateful for the state of our movement in Queensland and appreciate all that John and Francine have done.

State Executive Leadership Transition

Ben Teefy has also stepped down from state executive as he and his wife Danielle have moved to South Australia to become senior pastors of Encounter Church in Gawler. Our loss will be South Australia’s gain and I have no doubt they will be a great blessing to that state, just like they have been to us.

I was greatly honoured to be voted in as new State President, and I would also like to congratulate Craig Tomkinson for being voted in as State Vice-President. Dustan Bell and Mark Elmendorp have both been added to the executive and I know they will add tremendous leadership and experience.

The current leadership team is

President: Ben Naitoko

Vice-President: Craig Tomkinson

Secretary: Chris Mulhare

Treasurer: Lee Dallman

Executive members: Deb Van Bennekom Dustan Bell Mark Elmendorp

Dept & Leadership Transitions

As in every conference period, seasons of leadership come to a close and others open. This is a record of those tranitions.

ACC Kids James Rossiter – Laura Douglas

ACC Chaplaincy Shane Brigg – Angie Herranz

Gold Coast region Joel Cave – Ben Naitoko –Lucas Connell

Brisbane West region Deb Van Bennekom – Tim Spark

Far North region John Wedrat – Matt Coleing

Whitsunday region Sean Casey – Jason Vernardos

Capricorn region James Hewitt – Nathan Jones

I wish to thank all our retiring leaders for their valuable contribution to our movement. I also want to congratulate all the new incoming leaders and I know that God will use them all mightily as they bring new enthusiasm and perspective to their roles.

I am super excited about the team God has put together and I am looking forward as we continually advance the gospel in ACC Queensland & Northern Territory. Our greatest days are ahead!

Events

State Conference in 2022 was an outstanding success and the largest attended in our state’s history. We had outstanding guest ministry from Andre Olivier from Rivers Church in South Africa and also had the unusual challenge of holding conference simultaneously across two locations. Our team rose to the challenge magnificently and put together one of our greatest conferences ever.

Ben Naitoko, QLD+NT State President

QLD + NT State Conference 2022

Vision for the Future

The past two years have been strong for the ACC in South Australia. Churches have been bouncing back from the disruptions of the pandemic and we have had reports of growth and momentum right across the board.

Leadership

In December 2021, Josh Brett stepped aside from being State President after five years of leading the state. He did a brilliant job and was very much loved. I want to personally thank and honour Josh Brett for his leadership. Under his season as State President, church planting thrived, health came to many tired churches and he gave his heart to our fellowship.

It was a great honour to be appointed as his replacement in December 2021. This was endorsed by the State Conference when I was elected in September 2022. The current State leadership team comprises:

State President: David Hall (Revival City Church)

Vice President: Rob Santostefano (One Heart Church)

Secretary / Treasurer: John Griffiths (City West Church)

Executive Members:

Janine Donato (Influencers Church)

Joshua Greenwood (Influencers Church)

David Hamalainen (iSee Church Adelaide)

Greg Johnston (Influencers Church)

We appointed the following pastors to departmental positions:

State Women

Community Engagement

Chaplaincy

Youth Alive

Yvonne Zerna

Garry Leech

Jeff Marshall

Sam Long

Stats:

• Number of Churches: 61

• Number of Pastors: 203 (122 OMC / 69 PMC / 12 SMC)

• Number of pastors credentialed: 29

• Number of churches planted: 4

Events

Our State Conferences are always highlights on the calendar.

In 2021, our key speakers were Mark & Jemima Varughese. This was an amazing conference in the midst of covid restrictions.

The 2022 State Conference included Steve Penny, Scott Samways, Rob Santostefano, John Hunt & Josh Greenwood. It was a great success, and I think everyone’s highlight was having a regional pastor preach.

Youth Alive is thriving in South Australia in 2022. We have seen a significant increase in our reach with over 4,000 young people engaged through leadership events, youth alive academy, stadium outreaches and conferences. Most of all, we celebrate over 600 young people making decisions for Jesus and being sent back to their local youth ministries for discipleship. We are full of faith and expectation for all that God will do this year!

Vision

I outlined a number of faith goals at the beginning of my tenure as State President.

1. 80 churches by 2030

I’m believing that we will have 80 churches by 2023.

2. Own property for our State Office

3. Strength in our regions

4. Increase in our existing churches

If we can get another 5,000 South Australians in ACC churches we are reaching 1% of our state.....

5. Revival in our local churches Souls, discipleship, growth, miracles, buildings, prosperity and increase.

6. Supernatural provision for every church

I see ribbons being cut, existing facilities expanded, land being purchased, leases being entered into and supernatural provision.

7. A revival in our generational departments Youth Alive, ACCKIds and Alphacrucis

8. Greater favour on our departments

It is a great honour and privilege to serve our Movement and lead our State in this season.

David Hall, SA State Presiden

SA State Leaders Gathering

Building on great Foundations

As I take my place as ACC Tasmanian President, I am humbled by the overwhelming support within Tasmania and across the country.

At 2022’s State Conference, we honoured and celebrated Dave and Alix Morse. These consummate ambassadors served eight years as State Presidents, fearlessly carrying faith, hope and love in seasons of significant cultural transitions and societal upheaval. Through their leadership, Tasmania is a better place to minister and lead churches, and we have never been better placed to extend the vision of a state radically transformed by the Gospel.

Building on their servant leadership model, Karen and I are delighted to take our position as the next relay runners, seeing a generation of new leaders credentialed and churches planted.

Leadership

A genuinely brilliant team supports me:

Vice-President: David Morse

Secretary/ Treasurer: Martin Oravec

Executive member : Peter Shurley

Executive member: Jono Deal

Ex-officios: Mark Bates (Victoria), Laura Bain, Craig Guntrip

Training and Highlights

The last two years have seen great endeavours in supporting, training, and equipping our Pastors and leaders. Along with our State Conferences, we’ve held

annual Pastors and Leaders retreats in the beautiful highlands of Tasmania. Each gathering has seen opportunities to engage relationally, refresh personally and be equipped professionally. Youth Alive continues to grow from strength to strength with regional and state meetings, inspiring and informing youth ministries on how to reach and lead locally. Along with a series of leaders’ breakfasts, we have also held a Ministry Essential training day equipping PMC and OMC Pastors for the next step in ministry.

Stats:

Number of Churches: 15

New Church Plants: 4

Number of OMCs & PMCs: 32

New Credentials: 4

Expectations

We believe we will build significantly on these foundations in the next two years. We are excited and expectant in Church Planting and raising leaders. We will host gatherings that bring relational engagement, and Holy Spirit encounters with further strategies to equip leaders and their teams. We are committed to championing the expansion and expression of women in leadership and have a renewed focus on growing our first nations and ethnic leaders and churches, developing a greater intelligence of each group’s gifts, and intentionally inviting collaboration and contribution to our collective story and strength. We aim to continue championing the next generation of leaders and pastors and to identify and resource our 5-fold gift carriers and leaders.

We are offering each Tasmanian church board and committee access to the Alphacrucis Directors training course. We will work collectively to bring organisational and cultural strength and health to and through the State Executive. We are passionate about seeing all of Tasmanian transformed by the love of Jesus.

To this end, we will champion evangelism and encourage churches to operate in signs and wonders alongside proactive community engagement projects demonstrating God’s love and the Pentecostal church’s authenticity. We will continue focusing on making disciples who can make disciples who are willing to plant churches and lead communities into freedom.

Matt Sharples Tasmanian State President

Celebrations for Dave & Alix Morse at State Conference 2022

You make known to me the path of life; You will fill me with joy in your presence, (Psalm 16:11)

Matt Heins at VIC State Conference 2022

VICTORIA

Vision to 'Go'

Leadership

Our State Leadership team continues to grow and change. At last year's state conference, we said farewell and thank you to Tracy Shand for her years of service on the State Executive, and we welcomed Katrina Yassi to the team.

Ian Kruithoff retired after 15 years of faithful service as our Church Health Director, during which he saw over 200 church plants and invested into the health of many more churches. We thank Ian for his faithful service, and we welcome Phil Shand as he steps into this role.

We have had some other department changes: Todd Werner is leading ACC Vic Kids, Mark Penny for Chaplaincy Victoria, Franca Heins leading ACC Women and Lois Spinella looking after our regions.

Stats

God continues to raise up new leaders in Victoria. In the last two years we have processed 238 credential applications. We have endorsed 31 new churches, bringing us to a total of 300 active churches in our state.

Resources & Training

Out state is well equipped with faithful, godly people who invest their time into our churches and pastors. Some of the highlights over the last two years are:

• Youth Alive Equip Days: Led by Dave Edgar and YA Vic, these events invest in the youth pastors and leaders of our state.

• Indigenous Initiative ‘My Story’: This workshop, developed by John & Robyn Murray, equips local churches to engage and communicate effectively with the aboriginal people in their local communities.

We receive excellent feedback on how valuable this workshop is every time it is run.

• Pastors Intensive: Over the last two years we have had 133 Pastors complete our Pastors Intensive course and gain their Ministry Essentials certificate.

• Mentoring Matters: Graham Shand continues to resource our state with the Mentoring Matters program, which in March this year had 60 pastors attend.

Events

Our 2022 State conference was the first in-person conference we have held in Victoria since I was elected State President. It was our largest conference, with over 1400 attendees. We had fantastic teaching and ministry, and there was an overwhelming sense of family, connection and vision in the room, as we all came together after 2 years of some of the harshest isolation rules in Australia.

Last year we held three Super Regional Events across our state with our National President Wayne Alcorn. These events were fantastic and brought great value to our local churches.

Vision

The vision for Victoria is to ‘Go’. After a period of great restriction, it is time to ‘go' and disciple, church plant, evangelise, and stir and increase the Church. We are focusing on the health of our pastors and the local church, believing that they will go from strength to strength, be equipped, encouraged, and supported as they sow their hearts and talents into their people.

It is truly a privilege to serve the state of Victoria!

Matt Heins, VIC State President

Believing to Multiply

Western Australia (WA) has emerged from some of the world’s harshest border restrictions. While ACC churches were adversely impacted by Covid restrictions, churches are gradually starting to recover with testimonies of people responding to the Gospel for the first time and finding family in local churches across the state.

WA Stats

Against the backdrop of Covid uncertainty, statistics in the 2021-2022 period show:

• 7 new church/campus plants

• 74 credentials were awarded

• 10% higher State Conference attendance (1,316 in 2022 from 1,196 in 2021)

We have 255 ACC credentialled pastors and 78 ACC churches/campuses in WA.

Conferences & Events

In 2022 our prophetically-themed “Multiply, Multiply, Multiply” Conference included well-attended sessions for church planting, community engagement, chaplaincy professional development, an Alpha workshop, and a land and buildings forum.

Our state leadership meetings are now hosted by different churches around Perth to showcase the amazing venues God has blessed our movement with.  These gatherings have become increasingly valuable to provide impartation, training and development for existing pastors, and to inspire a new generation of emerging leaders. We’ve also continued to develop pastors through Pastors’ Intensives and Marriage Celebrant training courses.

Our annual gathering of senior and campus pastors over a dinner event continues to solidify our movement.

In WA, we are blessed to have an annual ACCWA Women’s Conference where we see almost 500 women gather for an incredible time of encouragement.

Together, our Youth Alive WA and ACC Kids WA ministries are providing support for the leadership of the next generation through connects and leadership training.  In addition, these ministries continue to serve young people throughout WA through many relevant community events.

The Western Australian Executive are grateful for the visionary leadership of the National Team. We are so thankful for what God is doing in our nation.

Joel Chelliah, WA State President

Western Australia State Conference 2022